Green Room

Campaign ads I want to see

I live in a swing state (or so I’m told – Pennsylvania). I’ve been surprised that we’ve not yet been bombarded with campaign ads. Oh, I’ve seen a few, but not the wall-to-wall blasting I’d expected. I want the ads! Bring ‘em on! I want to see what each side has to offer. If the Romney side is looking for ideas, here are mine:

Lots of positive ads defining Mitt Romney—I know there are some out there (I like the Olympics one a lot — so much so that I’m embedding it at the end of this post), but in order for these to be effective, you need to actually buy air time, Team Romney. Here in PA, I’ve seen anti-Romney Bain ads numerous times (on the Food Network — good placement idea), but nary a Romney message at all. The result: the Obama campaign and its allies are defining Romney before he has a chance to define himself. This is bad news and might account for Romney’s polling problems in swing states. Get on the air, Mitt! It is not too early.

Government didn’t build this…but it sure got in the way: I’d love to see an ad that takes the “you didn’t built that” message one step further, showcasing entrepreneurs who succeeded in spite of government regulation, taxes, etc. Show me the businessman who had to pony up unexpected taxes. Show me the start-up gal who had to hire lawyers to cut through government red tape. Show the American people, in other words, how much capital has to go into fighting government before it can be invested in actual jobs.

Scandals, scandals, scandals—the conservative blogosphere might be drenched in the Fast and Furious, Solyndra, “enemies list,” and intelligence leaks scandals, but the general public is probably not up to speed on these because, let’s face it, the mainstream media has paid them scant attention. A series of ads on these problems would not just educate the public but also would reinforce the message that this president didn’t deliver on the change he promised. My caution: forgo the ominous background music, mad men. I’m convinced that people now have a Pavlovian reaction against that ad element, tuning out the message when they hear the minor chords and driving rhythms start to snake in. The scandals speak for themselves. Present them factually and calmly, as though you’re doing a series of public service announcements. The material will be devastating enough.

A well-crafted “amateur leadership” ad: Surely someone will put together an ad (maybe there already is one?) that highlights the number of days since the president’s “jobs council” has met. But that message would be more effective coupled with one reminding people what they already know, deep in their guts – this fellow is an amateur, he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. The problem with just running messages about his lack of job-creation is this: many people probably believe the recession can’t be easily solved by any one leader, and therefore they shrug and think, yeah, he’s not doing much, but who can? They need to be reminded that he’s not doing much because he doesn’t know how.

Speaking of jobs: Mitt Romney started a series of ads earlier about what he’d do on “Day 1” of his presidency. Where’d they go? Bring them back, Mitt! Do more! He needs to continue that, with very specific ideas. Hammer the Keystone Pipeline issue, talk about Gibson Guitars. Give the American people the sense that there’s nothing to fear but fear itself.

Okay, those are my ideas so far. What are yours? What kinds of ads would you like to see? To inspire you, here’s that Olympics ad I mentioned above. It works on several levels at once. First, it demonstrates that Romney has the skill set to turn a bad situation into a good one. And second, it very shrewdly reminds people that when Romney spoke about the Olympics while in Britain, he actually knew what he was talking about (unlike many in the media who criticized him). I only have one small criticism of the ad–there should be more print on the screen, so that the message works even with the mute button on.

Blowback

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*I* would love a Republican one taking Obama’s “You Didn’t Build That” speech, and dissecting it sentence by sentence

(better said, let’s put words in the REAL HORSE’s mouth):

* “There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back.”(HE MEANS: I’LL USE A FEW RICH FOLKS’ WORDS TO JUSTIFY RAISING TAXES ON ALL THE RICH)

* “They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.”(HE MEANS: THE INDIVIDUAL MUST SUBORDINATE HIMSELF TO THE COLLECTIVE)

* “You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there.”(HE MEANS: I LAUGH AT YOU IF YOU THINK YOUR INDIVIDUAL INTELLIGENCE WILL HELP YOU IN MORE IN LIFE THAN SUBORDINATING YOURSELF TO THE COLLECTIVE WILL.)

* “It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.”(HE MEANS: I LAUGH AT YOU IF YOU THINK YOUR INDIVIDUAL HARD WORK WILL HELP YOU IN MORE IN LIFE THAN SUBORDINATING YOURSELF TO THE COLLECTIVE WILL)

* “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.”(HE MEANS: I USE THESE PAWNS TO JUSTIFY NOT ONLY CONFISCATORY TAXES BUT ALSO INCREASING FEDERAL CONTROL OVER ALL AMERICANS)

* “Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.”(HE MEANS: IT IS ONLY THE COLLECTIVE FORCE OF THE GOVERNMENT WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO LIVE)

* “Somebody invested in roads and bridges If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”(HE MEANS: YOU DO NOT DESERVE THE PROFITS OF YOUR BUSINESS. IN THE NAME OF THE COLLECTIVE, I WILL TAKE THEM AND JUSTIFY IT WITH CLASS WARFARE)

* “The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”(HE MEANS: THEREFORE THE GOVERMENT DESERVES THE PROFITS FROM EVERYTHING…INCLUDING THE INTERNET)

* “There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back.” (HE MEANS: I’LL USE A FEW RICH FOLKS’ WORDS TO JUSTIFY RAISING TAXES ON ALL THE RICH)
Czar of Defenestration on August 3, 2012 at 8:48 AM

Excellent post, but let me change the meaning of the quote above slightly… HE MEANS: I’LL USE A FEW RICH FOLKS’ WORDS WHO MAKE SO MUCH MONEY, THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT ALL (think actors) TO JUSTIFY RAISING TAXES ON THE RICH WHO KNOW HOW TO INVEST AND CREATE JOBS.

The ads I think would work –
1. In April and in May of 2009, Obama said, testily, “You want me to take responsibility for the recession and recovery? Fine, I own it. As of (date), I own it.” Show those videos and then show how ineffective he has been (UE above 8% the whole term, 4.4M jobs created vs. 23M unemployed/underemployed, etc)

2. Combine that the alternating “focused like a laser on jobs” he said about fifty times and all the promises from all the economic advisors who have left. He has simply been ineffective, even if you like him. The emperor has no clothes.

3. String together all the videos of him saying that individual effort is not enough; that only the collective can produce results. In his “you didn’t build that” speech, he wants to credit gummint with building the middle class itself (WTF?!?) and the Golden Gate bridge (wrong).

4. Go back over his campaign promises about healing the earth, stopping the rising of the oceans, fixing underwater mortgages, creating millions of green jobs, blah, etc. Make a stirring, uplifting 12-second commercial about “The One” that then morphs into the facts of the last 4 years. He has been ineffective, even if you like him. The emperor has no clothes.

5. His imperial foreign policy is Bush’s, on steroids. Show how nobody has pointed that out; how the press hit Bush on the same/worse things the Obama had done. He is ineffective, even if you like him.

Along the lines of #3 from the article: Years ago Hebrew National hot dogs had an ad that featured Uncle Sam holding a hot dog. Voice over said how the government allows for artificial fillers, but we don’t (Uncle Sam smiles at the first part, then frowns at the second). Then some other point was raised like that ‘The Gov says we can, but we don’t’, etc. Ok so far? This political ad has an average American in the Uncle Sam role, the voice over says “Obama promised …, it didn’t happen.” and the character does the same set of facial expressions – happy then sad.

Yes, Romney is a whole lot better than the alternative, but please do not be deluded into believing that he is really a conservative. He is a big-gov Republican. Romney may slow the rate of government growth; he is not likely to do much pruning. He, himself, will only modify socialized medicine, not repeal it.

Don’t believe me? Remember that he was governor of deep-blue Massachusetts. He is more akin to Scott Brown than Paul Ryan.

Hopefully, his coattails will usher in many true conservatives who can take on the task of seriously cutting back the scope of the Federal Gov’t. Don’t hold your breath waiting for Romney to initiate that.

Please, vote for Romney in November. He’s the best we have to offer at the moment. Please, though, take off the rose-colored glasses and be aware of who you’re really voting for.

OK, I live in PA and follow things closer than most people (also, I’ve lived in PA my entire life.) Toomey, for instance, was my congressman until he decided to challenge Specter in the primaries back in 2004. He’s not the Senator.

Tom Smith will destroy Bob Casey, Jr. He cannot attack him personally without hurting himself more. Just look into Tom Smith’s background.